Reloaded Bridgehampton Boys Take Aim at 10th State Title

From the hunters to the hunted.

That’s the way Bridgehampton boys basketball head coach Carl Johnson described what the upcoming 2025-2026 season will be like after it fell one game shy of its ultimate goal, losing, 78-69, to Panama in the New York State Class D Championship last season. The Killer Bees lost one player, starter Jaylen Harding, to graduation, so with the large majority of the team still intact, and with some additions, Johnson feels as if his team will have a target on its back no matter who it’s playing.

“A state title is always there for us, and you know everybody expects us to go upstate every year. But the kids have to look at it in a different mentality,” said Johnson, who is entering his 29th year as head coach at Bridgehampton. “Last year, they came in hungry. Smithtown Christian was the defending county champs, so we had some serious motivation. So now the hunter is the hunted, and we’re going to be everybody’s big game coming into the season. So we’re not overlooking any opponents. It’s time to finish the job and to truly work hard.”

Alex Davis, a senior entering his sixth year on varsity who is poised to become Bridgehampton’s all-time scorer and is 433 points away from 2,000 career points, agreed that it’s basically state title or bust this season.

“I would say so. It’s just in the back of our minds,” he said. “We had a great season last season. We made it that far and lost in the last game. Every game that we play — even our weakest opponent — we’re going to keep that in the back of our mind and just move on.”

Xavier Johnson, now a junior, experienced his first season as a Killer Bee after transferring in from Hampton Bays. A defensive stalwart who will be the fastest player on the court more often than not and could provide offense when needed, Johnson said the team just needs to execute every time it touches the floor.

“We’ve got our plan. We’ve just got to finish our plan,” he said.

Davis has played side-by-side with classmate Jai Feaster the past six years, and the two form a formidable pairing together. Feaster eclipsed 1,000 career points last season and will certainly be adding to that total as the season goes on.

“Together, we both have that experience that we need to lead the team,” Davis said. “We have people younger than us that haven’t been in the same situations that we’ve been in. Once all of our minds click, we’ll be on to that state championship.”

Johnson came in with the Harding Brothers, Jaylen, junior Jordan Harding and freshman Jackson Harding, who all transferred back to Bridgehampton last year from Riverhead. They all got to experience Bridgehampton firsthand together, and now that they’ve settled in, they’re ready to win even more now.

“This is me and Jordan Harding’s second year in Bridgehampton, and we were still adjusting to the culture here. We like it here,” he said. “We’re just going to keep it up on defense and be solid big men even though we’re a small school.”

The majority of the team is a mix of familiar faces, like sophomore Eddie Dawson IV, the Hardings, juniors Christian Pinckney and Leo McDonald, senior Deiber Cabanas and sophomores Enger Garcia and Amari Charlton. But Jordyn Turner, a junior, has transferred in from Southampton, furthering the team’s depth, and freshman Nate Feierstein, who averaged 25 points on the junior high team last year, according to Coach Johnson, is making the jump up to varsity.

Bridgehampton will continue to play in a large League VII, in which the smallest Class D schools now outnumber the Class C schools. The Bees are joined in “D” by the Ross School, which was a “C” last season, Smithtown Christian, Shelter Island, St. Pius V and a new school, Our Savior New American. Upper Room Christian Academy was expected to join the league, but has since folded. Pierson, Greenport and Mattituck are the three “C” schools in the county this year, and will play in the same league.

While Johnson doesn’t like to look ahead, he also does like to scout, and if his team is fortunate enough to make it off the island and into regional play, there have been changes to a few teams upstate. First of all, Panama graduated about eight players or so from that state championship team a year ago, so making it back to the tournament may be difficult. Livingston Manor and Roscoe, two teams that had proved to be tough as single opponents, combined programs. Eldridge has moved up to Class C, but Johnson does know that his team will have to play two games before it gets to the state tournament.

The Bees have already played a number of scrimmages and open the season on December 10 at home against St. Pius at 6 p.m. They’ll play in the Kendall Madison Tip-Off Classic at East Hampton High School on December 12 and 13 and the following weekend will play in the Mariner Athletic Club Holiday Classic at Southampton High School.

“My job as coach, of course, is to coach these guys, which means I also have to coach their egos,” Johnson said. “Barring any chemistry problems or selfishness, we should go a long way. This is the first time I’ve had a team where we have a lot of seniors and juniors who are coming back. Every game is going to be crucial for us. We’re going to try to take everybody’s best shot, try to go undefeated in league play, and we’re looking forward to another great year.”